Unreal 5 Physics Engineer - UFC-style fighting game

Job Description

<h3>Job Description</h3><p>Job Description<p><p><strong>Location</strong>: Hybrid / Remote – Montreal QC Preferred</p><p><strong>Employment</strong> Type: Full-Time<br /><strong>Reports</strong> <strong>To</strong>: CTO</p><strong>Role Overview</strong><p>We’re seeking a seasoned Physics Simulation Engineer to develop and optimize the physical foundation of a next-generation UFC-style fighting game built in Unreal Engine 5. </p><p> You will own the design and implementation of real-time physics systems — from ragdolls and collisions to grappling, takedowns, and secondary motion — ensuring the action feels tactile, believable, and deeply responsive.</p><p>You’ll collaborate across gameplay, animation, and AI teams to bring visceral realism and cinematic weight to every hit, clinch, and ground transition.</p><strong>Core Responsibilities</strong>Physics & Simulation Development<ul><li>Design, implement, and tune character-centric physics systems (rigid-body, soft-body, cloth, and joint constraints).</li></ul><ul><li>Extend Unreal’s Chaos Physics engine for advanced collision, friction, and joint behavior.</li></ul><ul><li>Build hybrid systems combining physics simulation and animation control (active ragdolls, partial procedural blending).</li></ul><ul><li>Implement accurate hit reaction, momentum transfer, and impact dampening models for punches, kicks, and grapples.</li></ul><ul><li>Develop custom constraints and solvers for ground fighting, clinches, and submissions.</li></ul><ul><li>Integrate with animation and AI layers to synchronize motion, physics, and input.</li></ul><ul><li>Prototype physics-assisted motion systems (e.g., limb reaction forces, fatigue wobble, ground contact deformation).</li></ul>Runtime Integration & Optimization<ul><li>Profile and optimize physics update loops for 60 FPS (console and PC).</li></ul><ul><li>Maintain stability under varying frame rates and network conditions (deterministic rollback support).</li></ul><ul><li>Design LOD-based physics simplifications for off-camera fighters and background actors.</li></ul><ul><li>Integrate physics debug visualization and profiling tools for QA and design teams.</li></ul>Cross-Discipline Collaboration<ul><li>Work with Animation Engineers on blending procedural motion with authored animations.</li></ul><ul><li>Collaborate with Gameplay on combat timing, collision volumes, and balance.</li></ul><ul><li>Coordinate with Design and Art to define physical material behaviors, surface responses, and destruction triggers.</li></ul><ul><li>Partner with AI/ML teams to drive adaptive responses based on physical state.</li></ul><strong>Required Qualifications</strong><ul><li>5 + years professional experience in physics or gameplay engineering for real-time games.</li></ul><ul><li>Deep expertise with Unreal Engine 4 / 5 and Chaos Physics (rigid-body, cloth, constraints, collision channels).</li></ul><ul><li>Proficiency in C++ and performance-critical, multithreaded code.</li></ul><ul><li>Strong foundation in classical mechanics, kinematics, and numerical simulation.</li></ul><ul><li>Experience building or extending physics systems for character interactions (melee, ragdoll, vehicle, or sports gameplay).</li></ul><ul><li>Skilled in profiling, debugging, and optimizing for console hardware.</li></ul><ul><li>Experience maintaining stability and determinism in physics simulations for networked play.</li></ul><strong>Preferred / Bonus Skills</strong><ul><li>Experience building a physics simulation from scratch.</li></ul><ul><li>Knowledge of procedural animation and hybrid active ragdoll systems.</li></ul><ul><li>Familiarity with AI-driven physics blending or reinforcement-learning control.</li></ul><ul><li>Experience with soft-body dynamics, cloth, and muscle simulation.</li></ul><ul><li>Prior work on fighting, sports, or action titles emphasizing tactile collision and combat realism.</li></ul><ul><li>Understanding of motion-matching or animation-physics co-simulation pipelines.</li></ul><ul><li>GPU or compute-based physics experience (NVIDIA Flex, PhysX, or custom solvers).</li></ul><strong>Success Indicators (First 6-12 Months)</strong><ul><li>High-fidelity impact, takedown, and ragdoll responses tuned for gameplay realism.</li></ul><ul><li>Stable, deterministic physics behavior across all platforms and network modes.</li></ul><ul><li>Runtime cost within 1.5 ms/frame per character under heavy simulation load.</li></ul><ul><li>Fully functional physics-animation blending system (active ragdoll / constraint solver / IK integration).</li></ul><ul><li>Physics debug visualization and testbed maps adopted by design / QA teams.<br><br></li></ul></p></p>